


The Wolf

by WolfOfTheta



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 07:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18464590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfOfTheta/pseuds/WolfOfTheta
Summary: A mysterious wolf escapes from Doctor Eggman's base and teams up with Sonic and Tails to steal a Chaos Emerald from the scientist. But what will happen when they go back to his base to take the gem? This story's main purpose is to introduce my OC, as I may be using her for future stories. Enjoy!





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Woop, here I am. Wolf Of Theta taking to AO3
> 
> Disclaimer: I only own Kate, the rest belongs to Sonic Team @SEGA
> 
> Enjoy :)

*Eggman's base-White Acropolis*

It was midnight. Moonlight shone down on the factory roof, making light dance off the metal. The snow on the ground was illuminated, creating a bright white blanket on the ground. The slight hum of machines could be heard from the inside.

Inside the base, along a dimly-lit corridor, a steel door began to slowly open. However, it stopped a quarter of the way. The recipent of the room behind gave an impatient sigh.  
"No...no...open more..."  
Carefully, she placed a hand round to the front of the door and tried to push it open further. It didn't budge. She pushed it again, though this time with a lot less vigour, and then hit the door in annoyance. She growled.  
"Damnit, Eggman..." she muttered "can't even get the doors right..."  
With a grunt, she began to edge out of the tiny gap, tilting her head back to avoid hitting it on the door.

A small, flashing red light caught her eye, and she strained her head to look up. She gave a panicked gasp and began to move quicker. It was a security camera. Both arms were now clear of the prison cell, and she starting pushing herself out. She couldn't get caught now. She hadn't even got out of the cell, let alone the base itself.

Finally, she stumbled out from behind the door, panting slightly. Almost immediately, she dipped out of sight of the nearest camera. It was dark in the hallway, but there was no doubt the cameras were equipped with night vision.  
Keeping this in mind, the escapee began to advance up the hall, moving in a zig-zag pattern to avoid the many cameras. It wasn't long until she reached the end of the long row of empty cells, and where the corridor branched off into two different directions. She stopped dead. This wasn't her first attempt of escape, far from it, but she could never remember which way to go. She took a chance, and went right, not entirely sure if it was the right way.

She soon reached a door, which was lit with a bright light just above it. Frowning, she stepped closer, inspecting the steel door for any indication to where it led.  
She squinted a little at the light, and then glanced behind her. She had to be quick, as the light made her an easier target, as her features were now much more distinguishable to anyone watching the cameras. With a another sigh, she looked back again.

She ran a gloved hand over the white and cyan fur on her forehead whilst her royal blue eyes studied the door closely. She was a young wolf, around fourteen years old. She was clad in a dark blue jacket, with light blue jeans and purple boots. Around her wrists and ankles, were gold energy cuffs. Her fur was pure white, with a vertical cyan stripe on her head and a cyan patch at the end of her tail.

After about half a minute, she concluded that there was nothing on the door. She gathered her courage, opened the door, and went through.

The she-wolf was instantly blinded by the brightly lit room. When her sight had recovered, her breath caught in her throat at what she saw, and she clamped her hand around her mouth to prevent any more noise.  
Stood at the centre of the spacious, white-walled room, was a huge mech that resembled a dog. Egg Cerberus. Trembling slightly, the wolf cursed her bad luck, and began to slowly side step across the room.  
Cerberus appeared to have been deactivated for the night, as he hadn't reacted to her entering his chamber. She slowly crept along in front of him, getting closer and closer to the exit. Although, she couldn't help thinking that it was going far to well.

And of course, she was right.

Slowly, she removed her hand from her mouth to reach for the handle, and that's when it happened.

A single, slightly large spec of dust floated down in front of her face. The wolf went cross eyed as she watched it land on her nose.

Quickly, she blew it off, but it was too late. Her eyes closed as she prepared for the inevitable. She breathed in once, twice, and then sneezed. Loudly.

Quivering, she turned to Egg Cerberus, cowering slightly. She felt her heart rate increase as the mech's eyes flickered red a few times before coming on. Her ears drooped as the giant metal dog gave a mechanical snarl at her.  
"Oh..curse this over-sensitive nose..." she whispered.

The ivory wolf leapt out of the way as Cerberus snapped his huge jaws at her. Multiple alarms were triggered by the robot's movement, and she knew it was only a matter of time before Eggman's minions arrived. So, after a quick smirk at the advancing mech, she dashed for the door and frantically ran through it, slamming it shut behind her.

Out of breath, she leant against the door until she was thrown off of it by Cerberus charging at the door from inside the chamber.

Her hands shot up to her large ears as alarms began to ring through the base. She heard Eggman's voice on the tannoy.  
"Well well! Going somewhere are we, Kate?"

At his words, multiple robots began to advance on both sides of Kate, trapping her in. They raised their arm cannons at her, and she grinned at them as electrical sparks began to fly out from her hands.

Minutes later, she calmly walked through the wreckage, straightening her jacket. She stared at a nearby camera.  
"That all you got?" she laughed cockily before speeding off down the hall.

*

Kate growled as she reached yet another dead end. She had been rushing round the base for nearly ten minutes now, and was becoming desperate for a way out. More mechs kept appearing the longer she stayed, and she knew it couldn't be long before she was overwhelmed.  
Her ears twitched as she registered sound other than the blaring alarms. A large horde of robots was advancing towards her. She bit her lip, and stared at the wall. It was made of solid iron, just like everything else in the base. She knocked on it and heard a slight echo. It was hollow. It couldn't withstand a direct blast if she hit it with light speed. Stepping back a little, she planted her feet firmly in the ground, gathered her energy, and launched herself at the wall.

Less than a millisecond later, she was feeling the wind on her face, the wall behind her now with a gaping hole in it with the edges glowing red hot. She turned to the group of robots running at her in the hall and smirked.  
"Sorry guys, but it's time I left, don't you think?"

Overcome with happiness, she ran towards the large perimeter wall. Using her psychokinesis, she propelled herself into the air and over the barrier, landing expertly on the other side.  
Her boots had barely touched the snowy ground, however, when she felt something enclose round her waist, and jerk her upwards.  
She struggled against the metal confine. Then, realising that it was useless, dropped her arms and legs to her sides. She stared numbly at the forest in front of her. She was so close...

The metal arm that was encasing her swivelled round, and Kate found herself facing none other than Eggman in his Egg Mobile.

The evil genius laughed at the captured wolf before him.  
"Oh, my dear friend," he chuckled nastily "how many times have you tried to escape? What possibly made you think you would succeed this time?"  
Kate shot a look of pure loathing at Eggman.  
"Go to Hell," she snarled.  
Eggman ignored her.  
"You've made a right mess of my base, haven't you?" he said whilst staring back at the hole that Kate had made in the wall. He turned back as Kate continued to struggle. He smirked.  
"Not so powerful now, are you?"

In response, Kate clenched her fist, staring at one of the many robots that had gathered behind Eggman. The bot became encased in a blue-green glow. Kate slowly began to release her grip, causing the robot to be ripped apart and explode. Eggman stared at the smoking bot in shock, and Kate turned her head back to her captor.  
"What were you saying?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm in her tone. Eggman looked at her again, and smashed a button on his Egg Mobile, bringing the arm closer.

"Listen here, puppy," he snapped "because what I'm about to say will definitely make your life much easier,"

He began to explain something to Kate. The further he got into his explanation, the angrier Kate seemed to get, to the point where her eyes seemed to be ablaze with fury. She growled, and readied herself to break free of the claw, and run to freedom.


	2. The Offer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boop.
> 
> All of these chapters will be uploaded pretty quickly. I'm just transferring them over from Fanfiction (if you want to read ahead my FanFic account is also WolfOfTheta)
> 
> Disclaimer: I only own Kate, the rest belongs to Sonic Team @SEGA 
> 
> Anyway enjoy :)

Around 12:30pm, that same day:

It was a bright, sunny day in Station Square. The world-famous Sonic the hedgehog had just stepped off the train from Mystic Ruins. Sure, he could easily run back to the city, but he enjoyed taking the train sometimes. Behind him, stepped out a young two-tailed fox, called Tails. He was frowning at a yellow monitor in his hands, staring at it intently.

The two friends exited the station, Tails' focus remained firmly on the monitor, and Sonic looked with concern at his fox friend.  
"Uh...Mobius to Tails? You in there, bud?"

He didn't answer. Sonic clicked his fingers in front of his eyes, causing Tails to snap out of his trance.  
"W-what? Oh, s-sorry, Sonic..."

The blue hedgehog looked over Tails' shoulder, and saw that he was reading a newspaper article. It was from a village near White Acropolis. He leaned in closer to read it, and saw Eggman's name mentioned in the print. Tails began to explain what the article was about as Sonic continued to read.  
"It's the newspaper from that settlement near Eggman's base. I have a few friends there, so I like to see what's going on sometimes. Apparently there was a lot of noise coming from inside, and that something got out,"  
Sonic seemed excited at Tails' words.  
"Something got out?" he asked, grinning "heh, I've been looking forward to a challenge with that Egghead, he's been quiet for a while,"

They began to walk away from the station, heading to the outskirts of the city. Sonic was incredibly eager to find out what he was up against. Tails, however, appeared to be more nervous than Sonic.  
"We should be careful, Sonic," he said, a little worried at Sonic's enthusiasm "whatever this was it was strong enough to escape his base even with all the alarms going off. It could be dangerous,"  
Sonic grinned cockily at his friend.  
"The more dangerous, the better," he told him "like I said, I like a challenge,"

As they walked through the city, they discussed how they would intercept this "thing" that had escaped, and where they should look for it.  
Suddenly, someone barged past Sonic, pushing him a little to the side. Annoyed, he turned round, to find a white and cyan she-wolf looking back at him. She smiled a little apologetically.  
"Sorry...I wasn't looking..."  
Sonic nodded in acceptance of her apology, and then frowned. She looked tired, and a little dazed. He motioned to Tails and the two of them moved a little closer. The wolf looked back at them in curiosity. "Are you OK?" Sonic asked carefully. She nodded slowly.  
"Y-yes. I'm fine. Why d'you ask?"

She stepped back a little as she swayed on the spot. Sonic turned to Tails and then back to the wolf again in concern.  
"You look a little out of it," he continued. He moved his arms up a little as the wolf swayed again, her eyelids slightly drooping. She waved off his concern and yawned.  
"No, no, I'm fine. Just a little tired, I guess,"

She began to slowly walk away from them. However, she had only travelled a metre or so away, when she staggered, and fell onto a nearby shop wall for support. Grunting, she pressed one hand on her head and used the other as support. Sonic rushed over to her and gripped her shoulders.  
"Look...you need to sit down..."

Once again, she waved aside his offer of help.  
"I'm fine...really. I'm fine..."  
She trailed off and swayed once more, though this time more dangerously, before collasping into Sonic's arms. Tails joined Sonic at the side of the shop.  
"Is she OK? Who is she?"

Sonic shrugged and scooped the unconscious wolf into his arms. He examined her closely.  
"I dunno... she just, passed out," he shifted her a little to get a better grip "c'mon, let's get her back to your lab,"

Tails nodded and the two friends sped off back towards Mystic Ruins, forgetting about whatever got out of Eggman's base.

*an hour later*

The wolf was sat on a chair in Tails' lab, hands trembling around a glass of water on the table in front of her. She had just been explaining where she had come from, and Sonic was leant back in a chair opposite her. He tapped his hands on the table as he spoke, staring at the wood.  
"So, you broke out of Eggman's base last night?" He asked, the wolf nodded.

"Yes,"

Sonic absent-mindedly scratched behind his ear.  
"What's your name?"

"Kate,"

The blue hedgehog leant forward, and Kate looked up at him.  
"How long have you been in his base?"

She seemed reluctant to answer this question, and it wasn't for another minute that she replied.  
"About three weeks,"

Sonic looked at her sceptically, not entirely sure if that was the truth. Nevertheless, he continued questioning her.  
"What's wrong with you? Why did you pass out?" She chuckled a bit at his question.  
"I used up too much of my power. I don't have the best memory and, well, I keep forgetting my limit," she said a little light-heartedly.  
Sonic nodded and stood up. He left Kate and joined Tails at the far corner of the room. Whilst they had been talking, the young fox had been running a medical scan on Kate. He pointed to the screen in front of him.  
"It was a power depreciation that made her collaspe," he turned his head "is she the one that escaped?"

His blue friend scratched behind his ear again.  
"Yep. Has to be," he stopped as something on the screen caught his eye. He lowered his voice "are those the energy signals she's giving off?"

Tails followed Sonic's perplexed gaze.  
"Yeah. She has a mixture of electrokinesis and psychokinesis," he said "but this...I don't know what that is,"

He gestured to a large red "unknown" on the screen, and he tapped it.  
"Look, there's sixty percent of her power registering as unknown," he said in curiosity and a little awe. Sonic looked back at Kate, who was apparently interested in all the gadgets around the lab. Suddenly, he gasped aloud, and hit Tails on the shoulder.  
"Tails! This could be our chance!"

The orange fox rubbed his arm, and glared at Sonic grumpily.  
"To do what?"  
Sonic stared at his friend as if it was obvious.  
"To get the emerald! Y'know, the one in Eggman's base!"

Tails' eyes widened in realisation, and he bit his lip. He was about to reply, but Kate piped up from across the room.  
"You want the Chaos Emerald?"

She got up and joined them in the corner, a small smile playing at her lips.

"I know where it is, and I can get you to it,"


	3. Plans

"You want the Chaos Emerald?"

She got up and joined them in the corner, a small smile playing at her lips.

"I know where it is, and I can get you to it,"

Tails' mouth dropped open in surprise at her words. However, his face knitted itself into a slight scowl when he saw Sonic's smug look. The blue hedgehog turned to speak to Kate, his hopes rising. They had been trying to get the Emerald off Eggman for over a month, now, as they could never find their way around his labyrinth of a base and had constantly been getting lost inside of it. It was almost too good to be true.  
"You really know where the Emerald is?" he asked, excitement edging his tone. Kate grinned at his excitement.

"Three weeks was enough time to learn my way around the base," she explained "I can guide you to it,"

Sonic laughed aloud in happiness. Tails, however, didn't appear to be as optimistic. He frowned at Kate, seemingly in deep thought. He faced Sonic.  
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked suddenly. Sonic's smile fell as he saw the fox's serious expression. Nevertheless, he managed to keep up his spirit.  
"Sure, bud!" he replied.

The yellow fox glanced at Kate awkwardly. "Alone?"

Kate sighed, obviously a little taken aback and put-out. Regardless, she shrugged, and started to walk towards the door.  
"Say no more," she told them simply before stepping outside of the lab and shutting the door.

After her departure, Tails clenched his eyes shut and ran a hand through the fur on his head, as though he was faced with a tough decision. When he spoke to Sonic, it almost sounded as if he was apologising.  
"We shouldn't do this Sonic,"

The blue hero stared at his best friend in shock.  
"What? Why?" he exclaimed loudly. Tails motioned at him to tell him to keep his voice down. Sonic lowered his voice to a whisper and gestured to the door as he continued "this is our chance to finally get the Emerald!"

The young fox kit nodded feverishly.  
"Exactly! Isn't it weird how a random wolf escapes from Eggman's base, finds us and happens to know where the Emerald is?" he hissed "three weeks is no where near enough time to learn that base, Sonic! You've seen it!"

Sonic shrugged.  
"Maybe luck is starting to turn our way, pal. We can't keep wandering in there and getting ourselves lost. We need someone who can get us in and out," he looked at the door "plus, she collapsed in front of us, Tails. If what you're sayin' is right, Eggman would've just let her out without any fuss,"

Tails nodded in consideration. He trusted Sonic more than anyone, even over himself, sometimes. After a few minutes of more deep thinking, he looked up at Sonic, and smiled.  
"OK, Sonic,"

Sonic gave him the thumbs up as he approached the door, outside which Kate was still waiting. The blue hedgehog turned back to Tails, his hand just resting on the handle.  
"Listen, if she gives us any trouble, we'll just wear her down until her power drains, OK?"

Tails continued to smile. Sonic, now fully convinced that he had managed to persuade Tails, opened the door. Kate turned to him with a slightly quizzical look in her eye. Sonic clapped his hands together once.  
"So," he said brightly "how're we doing this?"

*the next day, 14:20pm*

Sonic and Kate were sat on the grass outside Tails' lab. The two-tailed fox was busy making a tracking device for Sonic, and a portable system for him and Kate to use. The plan was that Sonic was to go into the base by himself, with Kate and Tails stationed outside monitoring his movements and with Kate telling him where to go. They had already found a place to keep track of Sonic: a small, abandoned shack on the edge the forest. The past day or so had been full of discussions to attempt to develop a decent plan, and Sonic was growing incredibly impatient and eager.

Right now, the wolf and hedgehog were sat in silence, and it stayed that way until Sonic asked her a question.  
"Um...Kate?" he began. Kate shifted a little so she could look at him.

"Yeah?"

Sonic nervously ran his hand through his quills, not sure if he should ask her the question in his mind.  
"Yesterday...Tails did a medical scan on you..." he stopped at her perplexed expression "did you know?"

Kate shook her head.  
"No, I didn't," she replied, her tone growing a little cold. She waved her hand at him "go on,"  
Sonic cleared his throat awkwardly.  
"OK...um...we saw your power signatures," he hesitated "there was sixty percent unidentified. What is it?"

Kate breathed deeply and clenched her fist for a second before releasing it. She put her head in her hands and shook her head lightly.  
"What that is..." she said before trailing off "...is none of your concern, hedgehog,"

She moved her hands away from her face and Sonic noticed that she looked a lot more downcast than before. Tentatively, he placed a hand on her shoulder.  
"Kate, listen, you can trust me, right?"

The ivory wolf looked at him and nodded. Her royal blue eyes stared piercingly into his own. Sonic continued.  
"Then why can't you tell me?"

Kate just shook her head and broke eye contact.  
"Like I said, it's none of your concern..." she held up her hand as Sonic began to object, and she jerked her shoulder away from his hand "...and I ask you to leave it be, Sonic,"

The blue hedgehog nodded solemnly, ever so slightly annoyed at her.  
"OK, I'll leave it, if you let me ask you something else,"

Kate leant back on the wall, tucking her right knee up. "That's just crossing the line, hedgehog," she said with mock sternness. She gave him a slight smile as a go ahead.  
Sonic didn't hesitate this time.  
"What exactly did Eggman do to you?"

His friend inhaled sharply and her eyes widened at his question. Sonic looked on in alarm at Kate's reaction, put let it pass, as she soon calmed down. The blue speedster began to fumble with his words.  
"S-sorry," he stammered "you don't have to answer that,"

Kate composed her self and took a deep breath.  
"No...no...it's fine," she muttered. She crossed her arms as she began to explain "he was OK to me at first, he was kind. But then..." she growled slightly "he found what you found, the unknown. He tried to turn me into a weapon, tested all sorts of stuff on me. I mean...he bonded me with someone, literally bonded me with them, made me their sister, technically," she paused "that's how I got my electrokinesis. The DNA transfer kicked the synapses into place and gave me a whole new power,"

Sonic remained silent as he digested what Kate was saying.  
"This person he bonded you with...who is it? Maybe we can find them,"

Kate scratched her ear in thought and shook her head in confusion.  
"I can't remember. They were male, I know that much. Whoever it was had tonnes of energy. If I remember his name, I'll tell you,"

Sonic frowned slightly, for some reason a certain black and red hedgehog entered his mind. However, he dismissed the thought almost as soon as it had arrived.

The door to Tails' lab snapped them out of their conversation. The young fox was staring at them proudly.  
"I did it!" he exclaimed, sounding out of breath yet triumphant. He held up a metal bracelet "should we get going, then?"

*later*

The system was set up in the shack. Tails had managed to set up a makeshift solar panel on top of the shack which fed down to the monitors. Sonic was ready to go, the metal bracelet was around his right wrist. On the monitor screens, feeds from different security cameras were shown. The blue hedgehog adjusted the communication device on his left wrist.  
"You have to be as quick as possible, Sonic. This thing runs off solar power and it won't stay light forever," Tails told him seriously. Sonic gave his trademark cocky smirk.  
"Heh, that Egghead won't even know I'm there,"  
He gave a thumbs up to Kate, who wore a headset and was sat on an old stool infront of the monitors. She smiled in return.  
"There should be a wall with a hole in it," she said, whilst gesturing to the west of the shack "that's where I got out, so we'll go from there. Good luck,"

And with that, Sonic sped out of the shack and towards the base.


	4. Sorry

"Jeez, Kate! Did you make that hole?"

Sonic stared at the peeled back metal in astonishment. He reached out to touch the edges of it and found that it was still warm. He heard Kate sigh down the intercom.  
"Yes. Yes I did. Can you please focus?"

Sonic tore his gaze away from the destroyed wall, and he carefully clambered through it. Once he was inside, he lifted his wrist to his mouth.  
"I'm in,"

Outside the base, in the shack, Kate watched the screens carefully. On one of them, she could see a slightly hazy image of Sonic in the hall.  
"Yeah, we've got visual on you. Keep going forward. You'll find a junction where four corridors intersect,"  
Tails walked over to Kate and spoke into the mouthpiece on the table.  
"Avoid the cameras, Sonic. I've managed to hack into a few of them but not all of them," he warned.

Slowly, Sonic began to make his way down the empty hall, ducking out of sight of the cameras. After about half a minute, he found the junction. There was a clear space in the middle, and three other paths branched off of it; one to the left, one to the right and the third directly infront of him. The fourth was the corridor in which Sonic was already stood in.  
"Which way?" he asked quietly. There was a pause on the other end.

"Er..."

Sonic's eyes widened.  
"Please tell me you know," he groaned. Kate's growl came from the wrist communicator.

"Yes, I do. I couldn't think for a moment..." she trailed off "...go right,"

Sonic hesitantly turned right, starting to doubt Kate a little. His doubt heightened when he reached a dead end.  
Furious, he lifted his arm up again.  
"Nice one, Kate. It's a dead end," he said harshly "you said you knew the way,"

He heard Kate chuckle, and Sonic scowled.  
"This isn't funny, Kate,"

The ivory wolf only laughed louder.  
"Oh, but it is, Sonic. Look down to your left,"

Sonic rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. His eyes were met with a metal grate in the wall. It took him a moment to realise, but, when he did, he shook his head in amazement.  
"You are brilliant, you know that?"

He knelt down and carefully took the grate off the wall revealing a large vent. He peered into it cautiously.  
"Where does this go to?"

"Near to the centre of the base, where the Emerald is. I've used it a few times myself,"

Sonic nodded in determination.  
"Right, here goes,"

He lowered his head slightly and placed his hands on the cold metal floor of the vent. He shuffled forward a little so he could get his legs in and began to crawl through the narrow vent.

*shortly*

Another grate fell to the floor with a clatter. With a grunt, the blue hedgehog hoisted himself out of the maintenance vent, accidentally standing on the grate as he did so making a loud clanging. Kate gave a disgruntled huff on the other end.  
"Could you be any louder, Sonic?"

"Shut up,"

Sonic kicked the grate aside and stretched a little. He looked at his surroundings. It was pretty much the same, except this time the corridor was lit with sinister red lights. There were a few doors leading off of the corridor, too. He shivered a bit before speaking into his wrist communicator.  
"Where to now, Kate?"

Kate clicked her tongue before answering.  
"Keep going down. There should be a door saying 'centre sector' at the end,"

Lowering his hand, Sonic started to advance down the hall. As he passed the doors, the deafening din of machinery whirring away attacked his ears, forcing him to cover them up. It wasn't long before he reached the door that Kate had mentioned. On it, were big yellow letters that read "DOOR 4B-CENTRE SECTOR".  
"I'm at the door. What now?"

Kate snorted.  
"Go through it, genius,"

Sonic scowled and opened his mouth to retort, but then decided against it. Kate was his guide, and the last thing he needed was to get her annoyed.  
He pushed down on the large metal handle and drove his shoulder into the heavy steel door, pushing it open. Shutting it behind him, he stared forward, and rubbed his head as he felt a slight headache coming on.  
"Man, how many corridors are in this place?"

"Far too many," Kate sighed wearily "now, just keep going down, until-"

Her voice cut out suddenly, and Sonic tapped the communicator feverishly.  
"Kate? Are you there?" he asked worriedly. No reply. "Hello? Tails? Anyone?"

He bit his lip, panic starting to rise. What happened? Were they being attacked?

Sonic shook his head to clear his thoughts. It was probably just a problem with the system. It was likely to happen. It was just a makeshift system, after all.  
Keeping this reassuring thought firmly implanted in his head, Sonic followed Kate's last instruction to him and started to make his way down the hall. His ears strained for any sound from Kate or Tails and, no matter how many times he reassured himself, he began to worry.

Caught up in thought, it was a moment before he noticed another problem.

He had reached the end of the corridor, and found that there were three other pathways branching off from where he stood now. He tapped the communicator again.  
"Kate! I've reached the end but... it branches off. I don't know which way to go,"

Suddenly, the communicator crackled a bit, and shaky voice reached him.  
"S-Sonic..." it said "are you t-there?"

The blue hedgehog laughed in relief, but then shut up as he remembered where he was.  
"Kate! Are you and Tails OK? What happened?"

Kate spoke through the loud static.  
"Badniks...they came out of nowhere..." she breathed "I'm fine, but Tails...they got him first and...he's knocked out..."  
Sonic frowned.  
"Is he OK, though?"

"Yes," Kate replied "but...the systems wrecked. I don't know where you are,"

Sonic's hope plummeted.  
"There...there has to be something you can do..." he murmured. Kate took a moment to speak back.

"There is..."

She was silent for a while, as though what she was about to suggest was a very bad idea. When she spoke again, she sounded nervous.  
"I can track your last position," she said finally "I'll have to lead you the rest of the way. Stay there, I'll be with you in a minute,"

The communicator cut out, and Sonic was once again on his own.  
Seconds later, however, a sharp flash of light brought Kate at his side. She looked relatively unscathed, and she smiled happily at him.  
"Right!" she looked at the fork of pathways, and pointed to the middle one "this way!"

With that, she was off down the path, limping slightly. Sonic followed after her, incredibly puzzled.  
"You never told me you could teleport," he stated, walking alongside her. They reached a left turn and followed it. Kate didn't look at him when she spoke.  
"I don't do it that often. It drains me sometimes and, as you know, it's not very good for me..."  
She smiled softly at him before facing forward again. Hearing her speak brought another question to Sonic.  
"Where are you from?" he asked. Kate raised her brow at him.  
"You're asking an awful lot of questions, Sonic," she sighed grumpily. They took a right turn "why d'you ask?"

Sonic pointed at her mouth.  
"Your accent," he told her "I don't recognise it,"

They reached a set of stairs going downwards. After a brief inspection, Kate lead them down the stairs.  
"Goes on forever, this place..." she muttered distastefully "erm...yeah. I wasn't born on this planet. I was born on Earth, in this place called England," she shivered "we lived in the north west. Horrible. It was cold and raining all the time,"

They continued to talk as they made their way through the maze of a base. Soon, they reached a door with a pin code as a lock. Kate nodded.  
"This is it," she whispered, reaching out to the keypad. She punched in four numbers, and the door clicked.

She went for the handle, but then stopped. Sonic looked over to her to find that she was shaking uncontrollably. Her expression showed only fear, and she was stepping back a little.  
"Hey," Sonic said loudly, concerned. She didn't answer, and he clicked his finger in front of her eyes "hey,"

She looked at him, but, for some reason, didn't meet his eye. He placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.  
"This'll be easy," he placed his hand on the handle, and smirked "thank you, Kate,"

The ivory wolf didn't seem convinced at all.

Sonic pushed open the door, and they entered a clean, white walled room. At the far end of the large room, on the wall, was a huge metal metal shutter, and in front of it, secured in a glass dome on top of a white podium, was the green Chaos Emerald.

Sonic began to walk over to it.  
"See? What did I tell you? This is gonna be fi-"

"Well well, Sonic! Looks like you've wandered right into my trap!"

Eggman came round from behind the pair in his Egg Mobile to face them, looking at Sonic victoriously. The blue hedgehog didn't even have time to question the mad scientist before someone grabbed him from behind. That someone held tightly onto his abdomen and his chest, trapping him. He strained his head around, and his heart fell at who he saw.

None other than Kate was staring back at him, her surprisingly strong grip keeping him in place. Her voice seemed hollow when she spoke.  
"I'm sorry, Sonic," she said, breaking his gaze "but this is the way it has to be,"


	5. Silence

"I'm sorry, Sonic, but this is the way it has to be,"

Kate broke eye contact but kept her grip on Sonic, who shifted and struggled against her strong hold on his chest. He stared at the floor numbly, not wanting to believe what was happening. He should've known this was too good to be true...

This thought brought the image of his yellow fox friend to the fore front of his mind.  
"What have you done with Tails?" he hissed menacingly. Kate seemed slightly taken and surprised by his sudden change in mannerism, but didn't let it show for long. "Like I said, he's knocked out," she replied quietly, giving a small and almost awkward cough. It took a moment for Sonic to realise what she was implying.  
"Why you little-"

Another voice cut him off mid-sentence, and the attention of both the wolf and the hedgehog turned to the scientist in his Egg Mobile, who was pretty much beside himself with glee.  
"Excellent work, Kate!" he said happily "I have to say I had my doubts about you, but you've done perfectly!" he pressed a button in his Egg Mobile, and a loud clunk told Sonic he was sealed in. Eggman continued to speak directly to Kate.  
"Kate, be a dear and get rid of the devices," he said in a mockingly sweet voice "I'm afraid we can't be interrupted,"

The painful grip on Sonic's chest eased a little as Kate reached round to forcefully snap off both the tracker and the communicator off of his wrists. She threw them across the room and they landed with a clatter. After that, she finally let go of Sonic, pushing him forward little and stepping back. A short pause followed before Kate spoke again, the emptiness in her voice still present. "There," she said shakily, addressing the floor "I did what you wanted, I got him for you. Now deactivate it,"

At her words, Eggman pressed another button in response and, for some reason, the golden cuff on her right ankle detached itself and hit the floor. Kate kicked it away, eyeing it with contempt before retrieving an identical cuff from Eggman. She returned to her spot about a metre behind Sonic and snapped on the cuff in replacement of the other one.

Sonic watched with confusion until the evil doctor began to speak to him.  
"Well, Sonic!" he exclaimed, leaning back a little "how does it feel to be at a disadvantage for once?"

The blue hedgehog raised his brow, a slight smirk reaching his lips despite the current situation.  
"Disadvantage?" he repeated "how?"

Eggman laughed.  
"You're trapped in here, my prisoner," he said, his glasses flashing a little "what's keeping me from destroying you right now?"

Sonic crosses his arms and snorted.  
"Heh. You couldn't destroy me if you tried, Egghead. That's what's stopping you,"

Then, Eggman pointed at himself, his expression taken over by pretend shock and confusion.  
"Me? Oh no, I'm not even going to try this time, you annoying rat," he placed both of his hands on the edge of the Egg Mobile and leant forward "she is,"

He looked up towards Kate, and her head snapped up at his words.  
"What? That wasn't part of the deal!" she snapped, anger creeping into her voice. Eggman chuckled.

"Yes, it wasn't," his voice then lowered to a whisper "but it is now,"

Kate's ears flattened to her head and she stormed past Sonic and stopped right in front of Eggman. Her eyes were ablaze with rage and loathing.  
"No! The deal was if I get him, I get out. You swore, Eggman!" She growled viciously.

"So that's what you did this for?"

Kate whipped around, and her anger faded at the sight of the blue hedgehog staring at her with disbelief and she lowered her head in, what, shame? Regret? Sonic couldn't figure it out. It was about half a minute before she looked at him again, scratching her ear nervously.  
"Y-yes, it was," she stammered "but there's more to this, Sonic. You just have to trust me..."

Panic made way into her expression as Sonic began to advance towards her.  
"Trust you? After this?" he shouted angrily "After you hurt Tails and tricked me into being here just because you couldn't handle being in a base for three weeks?"

Kate was now trembling slightly as she stared on at the fuming hedgehog.  
"I know, I know," she pleaded "but please, you just have to-AGH!"

Sonic had had enough. He had launched a homing attack at the wolf, taking her by surprise. She was flung backwards and hit the wall with a yell. After a minute, she shakily rose to her feet, rubbing the back of her head and groaning. When she had composed herself, she looked at Sonic in shock, and raised her hands in defence.  
"I don't want to fight you, Sonic," she told him, somewhat calmly "I won't,"

His tempers still running high, Sonic leapt into the air and threw himself at her yet again, and this time, she was ready. Kate ducked to the side swiftly, making Sonic miss her by inches. He bounced back and readied himself again. The ivory wolf realised that he wasn't going to back down. She sighed and shook her head grimly.  
"Very well,"

And with that, her hands crackled with electricity as she fired a bolt of electricity at him. Sonic dodged it, feeling its searing heat as it travelled past. It hit the ground, leaving a long scorch mark on the floor.

The heat had barely subsided from her first attack when a second one was hurtled Sonic's way. This time, he went underneath it and managed to swing his leg round so it tripped Kate up. She stumbled a little and Sonic prepared a spin dash whilst she was distracted.

Suddenly, he shot forward, and Kate quickly formed a shield to protect herself, her arms guarding her head. Sonic continued to spin furiously fast against her shield. She was pushed back a little, but didn't falter. Eventually the spin dash wore out, and he jumped back away from her. Snarling, she threw a punch at him, and they began fighting hand-to-hand.

Eggman, meanwhile, was finding this very entertaining indeed. He was sat back lazily, enjoying the show.  
"This is brilliant! Maybe they'll destroy each other!" he thought happily. He knew Kate would fall eventually, and then he could finish off Sonic himself...

The fighting continued, and it was clear that Sonic had underestimated her strength. He had attacked her thinking that her power would drain quickly, as it was the reason she had collapsed when they had met. However, something else must have caused her to be like that, as it didn't seem to be going at all. He had to find her weakness.  
This thought brought back a conversation that he and Tails had the afternoon before, and it clicked.

_"Listen, if she gives us any trouble, we'll just wear her down until her power drains, OK?"_

The back-up plan if things went wrong, which they were doing, right now. With this is mind, he began to attack her using spin dashes again, knowing that her shield would drain her power, and that he could win this.

*soon*

The plan had worked. Sonic crossed his arms smugly at the sight of the panting wolf, who was stood with her hands resting on her knees. It had taken ten minutes of continuous spin dashes to wear her down, but he did it. She gave a sarcastic chuckle, evidently annoyed.  
"I should never have told you what made me feint," she wheezed, straightening up and wincing a little as her back protested against her movement. She looked confused at Sonic's smug look "what? Do you want me to congratulate you? Well done, you tired me out, get over it,"

Sonic seemed pleased at her bitterness. Although, he was pretty worn out himself, and he stretched his legs to try and ease the small aching pain.  
"No need to be a sore loser," he mocked "now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Chaos Emerald to get..."

As he was talking, he didn't notice a missile slowly emerging from the side of the Egg Mobile further back in the chamber, and didn't notice Eggman quickly tapping away on the control panel, taking aim...

Kate did, however, and she growled, her eyes once again becoming alight with rage and determination,  
"Oh no you don't,"

Sonic turned round at her words, and the missile fired, but he had noticed too late.

What happened next went in slow motion for Sonic.

Kate ran up from behind him, shoving him out of the way and taking his place in front of the oncoming missile. She tried to form an energy shield to cover herself and Sonic as best as she could, and closed her eyes, readying herself for the impact...

The missile struck when the shield was half formed, and Sonic was flung aside in a wave of heat and smoke and fire. The sound was deafening, and he clamped his hands over his ears. His stinging eyes could make out the hazy image of Kate being thrown backwards and hitting the ground, the noise of impact easily drowned out by the explosion.

There must have been extractor fans in the room, because the smoke cleared unnaturally fast. Coughing, his ears ringing, Sonic rose to his feet. He leant against the wall to steady himself as the room swayed and spun around him.  
When his head was a little clearer, he stumbled towards the place where Kate had supposedly landed. He found her on her side. Her eyes were closed and she was still.

He knelt down and shook her gently, quietly calling her name. When she didn't respond, he shook her more vigorously, desperation and worry setting in. Kate still didn't stir. Shaking all over, he lowered his head down to her chest and turned his neck so his right ear was facing downwards. He listened for a heartbeat.

Whatever had happened, whether he had gone deaf from the explosion or the worst had occurred, his ear was met with silence.


	6. You Made This

No.

He had gone deaf. He must've done.

Sonic lifted up his head and furiously messed with his right ear, as though he was trying to clear away whatever deadened its ability to collect sounds. No. He could hear the fans whirring away as they cleared the acrid smoke. He could hear the crackle of flames. His hearing was fine. He listened again. Still nothing.

His legs felt like lead, but he managed to command them to stand. Numbly, he stared at the lifeless wolf in front of him, trembling all over. He continued to watch her, hoping for movement, a cough, anything to tell him that she was alive.  
Five minutes went by, and there were still no signs of life.

Quiet laughter from behind him snapped Sonic from his silent vigil. He turned around, and felt rage bubble up inside of him.

Eggman was stood, almost proud, before him. The Egg Mobile was further away, wrecked by the deflection of the explosion by Kate's shield. In his left hand, was a small control pad. He peered over Sonic's shoulder, and shrugged at the sight of Kate.  
"Well, that is a shame. She really was beginning to grow on me," he said indifferently, pretending to wipe away a tear. He directed his gaze to the destroyed Egg Mobile "what a mess she made," he sighed.

Sonic stepped forward a little and pointed back to Kate's body.  
"What a mess she ma-" he repeated, absolutely outraged "she's dead! And that's what you're concerned about?"  
He felt his throat burn when he finished, but ignored it.

Eggman didn't seem bothered in the slightest.  
"So? You despised her a few minutes ago. What's the difference?"

Sonic looked back sadly at Kate.  
"She saved my life..." he murmured. Eggman huffed.  
"Yes, annoyingly, she did," he replied grumpily. He sharply turned on his heel and retreated to the top right hand corner of the room, on the right side of the huge shutter.

He punched a button on the control pad, and the shutter began to open.

The loud sound of metallic clanging and whirring drew Sonic's attention away from Kate and to the shutter, which was now half open. Inside, he could see a large sinister sillohuette. A hatch opened up in the roof, and a metal claw came down, grabbing the glass dome containing the Emerald. It rose back up, stopping just short of the hatch.

Eggman called to Sonic from across the room as the shutter reached the top, and two large red dots shone from the darkness.  
"Your puppy friend is dead," he said, with a hint of finality "and now, you will join her,"

At his words, a metal leg and paw made its way from the gap, followed by another leg, and a head. Soon, the whole mechanical monstrosity had joined Sonic and Eggman in the chamber.  
It was Egg Cerberus. The giant robot dog let out a loud growl and began to slowly advance towards its target, who panicked. He was in no condition to fight. The battle with Kate, the blast from the missile and the shock of losing her had made him weak and dizzy. Nevertheless, he faced the oncoming hunk of metal with grim determination.  
"Let's dance, ya piece of junk,"

Cerberus snapped at him with his huge jaws, and Sonic leapt out of the way. He landed roughly, wobbling slightly. Eggman laughed at Sonic's unsteadiness.  
"Ha! Not as light on your feet, are you, Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog closed his eyes for a split second and shook his head a little to clear it. This was easy. Just another one of those times where it would start off bad and get better.

He looked up to the metal beast's head. The antaenae that was usually present was missing, meaning he would have to find another way to reveal its weak spot than making it ram into a wall. He dashed up to the front of Cerberus to examine its head closer. The red core was still there, protected by a black metal cover. Now how did he break it?

As he was pondering over the best way to approach this, Cerberus brought his foot down, making Sonic fall backwards and hit the ground with a thump. When he had recovered, the metal dog brought up the same paw again, and Sonic saw it.

It looked like a small lever mechanism, cleverly concealed in the midst of the machine's underbelly. Sonic had absolutely no idea what it was or what it did, but seeing as there was nothing else that stood out on Cerberus, he'd take the chance. Right now, he had another problem. Whilst he had been devising a strategy, he had been drawing Cerberus backwards to keep away from his shiny metal paws from crushing him, and now they were dangerously close to where Kate lay. Aware of this, Sonic waved and shouted at the robot, jumping around to draw it away again. Once again, Cerberus lifted his foot again, and Sonic dashed forward, ducking his head to avoid hitting it on the grey metal.

He was too quick for Cerberus or Eggman to register what had happened. Sonic hooked his hand around the lever and pulled it as hard as he could. When he emerged from under the beast he turned around victoriously to see the cover break off in a shower of sparks. It crashed to the floor, and Sonic leapt up to attack the core with a homing attack.

The metal dog let out a roar and fell back away from Sonic. Eggman stamped his foot in rage as he furiously hit a command into the control pad. He yelled at Sonic angrily.  
"Let's turn up the heat, shall we, Sonic?"

At his words, Cerberus opened his mouth, and Sonic saw a gaping hole glowing orange. As it glowed brighter, he realised what it was.  
"Oh, crud,"

Less than a minute after those words had left his mouth, a plume of fire erupted from the hole in the mouth. Sonic, very alarmed, sped out the way, covering his head. He felt the searing heat as a second fire blast skimmed his leg. He was soon hopping around frantically as he was bombarded with flames. Everytime he would get even remotely close to the head, he would nearly get burnt to a crisp.

He was beginning to tire out. His landing became more sloppy, and the attacks were getting closer and closer to hitting him.

One time, he stalled for too long, stumbled too far, and a jet of fire skidded across his right leg.

He yelled out in pain as he gripped his scalding leg. He eyed the mouth of Cerberus with disgust as it began to heat up again. It's job was done. This was the end.

Eggman just laughed at the sight of the crippled hedgehog before him, and Sonic closed his eyes, unable to find the strength to get himself out of the way.

He heard footsteps, slow and uneven. His first initial thought was that it was Tails, and that he had found a way to the Emerald Chamber.

But then, all of a sudden, he heard a voice. The last voice he had expected to hear, full of fury and shaking with uncontained loathing.  
"Get out of the way,"

It was Kate. Bruised and beaten, very unsteady, but alive, her hazy royal blue eyes staring at Eggman

Sonic complied with her demand, not saying a word simply because the shock and relief was so overwhelming. Kate limped forward, her fists clenched, dragging herself towards Egg Cerberus.  
Eggman was quite unfazed by the stand the wolf was putting up. In fact, he seemed to be amused.  
"The little wolf with a lasting bite," he mocked. He leant down, speaking in a sickly sweet voice "not so powerful now, are you?"

Kate's mouth twitched itself into a slight smile and she chuckled.  
"Yeah," she said firmly "heard that before,"

And with that, her left hand glowed, and she fired a beam of bright yellow electricity at Cerberus' left paw. There was a loud bang as the paw snapped off and Cerberus leaned heavily to the side, the robot barely keeping himself up. Eggman jumped as the Control Pad too crackled and sparked. He stared at Kate, shocked, as he tried to fix it frantically.  
"What-? How did... how did you...?"

Kate growled as she advanced further.  
"Why are you surprised?" she snarled, her right hand glowing "you did this to me!"

Another beam fired, hitting the right paw. Cerberus collapsed on his knees. Kate continued to fire beams at the defeated robot, caught up in a frenzy of revenge and anger.  
"You gave me this power!" she yelled, a third beam hitting the head "You made this!"

What happened next forced Sonic to shield his eyes, as Kate had begun to scream as lightning bolts began to burst out from her, firing in all directions, finishing off the beaten bot.

There was a loud rumble as Cerberus exploded, falling on his side. The Control Pad managed to leap out of Eggman's hands as it too blew up. He stomped on the Pad as his tantrum began.  
"You..." he spat, a crazy glint in his eye "this isn't over, you here me? It will never be over!"

After one last look at the pair of them, Eggman retreated into the room behind the shutter, which began to close again. Soon, the shutter was closed, and the two of them were left in silence.

Sonic was still in shock at Kate's survival, and could only manage a smile at her. She smiled weakly back, before staggering back a little. Sonic rushed forward to help, and she waved aside his offer.  
"The Emerald..." she gasped "...you...need...it..."

Sonic nodded and used the wreckage of Cerberus as a platform to bounce up, smash the glass and grab the Emerald. He landed painfully and awkwardly on his bad leg. Keeping tight hold of his prize, he turned to Kate.

She still wouldn't meet his eye, regardless of the fact that she had saved his life. Sonic was about to open his mouth to speak, when he saw her flicker slightly. When the flicker was over, he noticed that she looked a lot worse than before.  
"What did you do?" asked the blue hedgehog curiously. Kate gestured to the door.

"Light...speed," she breathed, barely keeping herself together "marked...way...out,"

She swayed heavily, just catching herself.  
"Too much..." she groaned "I shouldn't have..."

She was unconscious before she could finish her sentence. Sonic limped over to her and scooped her up off of the ground. He slowly progressed to the door, his mind overflowing with what had happened. How did she survive?

A slight crackling caught his attention, and he turned his head towards the noise.

It was the wrist communicator. Someone was trying to get through.

Tails...

Sonic rushed over and managed to pick up the device. Sure enought, it was Tails who was speaking frantically to him.  
"Sonic! It's Kate! I tried to stop her, but she...she..."

Sonic laughed.  
"It's fine, bud. It's all sorted out," he said reassuringly "I'll see you on the outside, Tails,"


	7. Chapter 7

*Flashback*

"Listen here, puppy, because what I'm about to say will definitely make your life much easier,"

Kate stopped struggling inside the metal claw for a minute, curious about what Eggman was about to propose. The doctor, sensing her willingness to listen to him, began to explain.  
"To put it simply..." he began "I will let you go if you...get someone for me..."

Kate growled and her anger began to rise again.  
"If you want me to kill someone for you, you might as well drop me back in that base," she snapped, leaning back a little " 'cos that isn't happening,"  
Eggman chuckled as if he knew something Kate didn't.  
"Dear me, Kate, I don't want you to kill them! No, no, no. I just want you to bring them here..." he grinned malisciously.

The ivory wolf frowned, unconvinced.  
"That would be condemning them to death at your hands..."

She trailed off, and Eggman sat up hopeful. However, he gave a grumpy huff when he heard Kate's answer. The captive wolf stared at him, angry yet smirking.  
"No,"

Eggman brought his fist down on the console in rage before immediately jerking it back up it pain. He let out a sound somewhere between a whimper and grumple.  
"I must ask you to reconsider, Kate," he snarled, flipping a switch in the Egg Mobile "It seems you have forgotten what I can do to you,"

He brought down a lever, and a loud buzzing came from the claw. The young wolf still held captive in its iron grip began to yell out in pain as it began to leech out her power and strength. She writhed and pushed against the claw weakly, with no success. Her eyes slenched shut.  
"S-stop...p-please..."

The scientist did so, and Kate fell limp, breathing heavily. Her eyes opened and she tried her best to focus on Eggman. Her captor seemed very pleased of himself.  
"So, what say you now, Kate?" he asked. Kate replied in short breaths as she tried to keep herself from passing out.

"I...I..."

Eggman cupped a hand to his right ear and turned his head towards her.  
"What's that?"

"I...I w-won't..."

She spoke quietly, and Eggman pretended not to hear, as if he was giving her another chance.

"What was that? One more time..."

Kate growled loudly, causing Eggman to jump back a little in surprise.  
"I won't!" she screamed hoarsely. Eggman sat back and ran a hand over his mustache.

"Very well,"

He placed both hands on the control panel, and the claw jerked sharply to the side and back round to the wall. The Egg Mobile moved forward and the claw released, dropping Kate on the hard packed, snow covered ground of the base. She landed roughly on her side and groaned, trying to push herself up. She tried to stand a few more times before quitting.

As she lay there in the snow, cold and trembling, she stared up at the red hot hole her lightspeed had made with a sad look in her eye. How long had she been trying to get out? She had lost count a long time ago. Her stomach dropped as she wondered how much longer she would have to stay in that place. Weeks? Months? Years? The thought energized her with renewed fear and dread, and she shakily got to her feet.

Eggman was about ten metres down from where she stood now, instructing a group of robots about something. Grudgingly, knowing she'd regret it, Kate began to limp forward until she was behind Eggman. When she called up to him, her voice was croaky and weak, but he heard her.  
"Who is it?"

The Egg Mobile whipped around, the claw managing to successfully knock down three robots in the process. Eggman was astounded.  
"What?" he replied "what did you say?"

Kate's ears drooped as she repeated herself.  
"Who is it you want me to get?"

*Flashback end*

Sonic leant back in his chair as Kate finished her explanation. It was the day after the events in White Acropolis and, despite Tails' protests, Sonic had brought Kate to his home in New Mobotropolis, where she had been asleep in his guest room until about an hour ago.

Right now, she was still in the bed, her hands resting on her chest as she stared up at the ceiling. Sonic had asked her numerous times for her to look at him, but she had always ignored him. Sonic repositioned his ice pack on his leg as he shook his head in confusion.

"I just...I just don't get it, Kate," he said, pressing a hand to his forehead as he sat up straight again. Kate shifted so she was facing him, but she didn't meet his eye.  
"You don't get what?"

Sonic moved the chair closer before leaning forward with his hands clasped in front of him.  
"I don't get why you'd risk someone's life because you couldn't handle three weeks in a base,"

Kate let out a long sigh and she closed her eyes. She laughed a little.  
"It...it wasn't three weeks, Sonic. That was...that was a lie..."

Sonic's expression softened.  
"Then...how long were you in there for?"

She smiled softly and wearily at him.  
"Three..." she cleared her throat "three years..."

The blue hedgehog widened his eyes in shock.  
"Three years?" he gasped "why didn't you tell me, Kate?"  
The ivory wolf's expression became more solemn and she shook her head softly.  
"Telling you would mean admitting it to myself," she told him "it would mean admitting that I had lost three years in my life that I would never get back and...I couldn't bring myself to do it..."

Sonic nodded in understanding.  
"Right, and, what happened in the shack with Tails?"

At his question, Kate groaned and pressed a hand to her head.  
"Do I have to answer that?" she asked gloomily. Sonic nodded firmly.  
"Yes. You agreed to answer all my questions, Kate,"

Moving her hand away from her head, Kate took a deep breath as she launched into an explanation.

*Flashback*

Kate flinched a little as a loud clanging sound pounded through the headset and gave a disgruntled huff down the mouthpiece.  
"Could you be any louder, Sonic?" she said as she watched Sonic stand up and stretch.

"Shut up,"

Another camera feed showed Sonic studying the new hall lit with red lamps. He lifted up his wrist.  
"Where to now, Kate?"  
Kate clicked her tongue slightly before answering.  
"Keep going down. There should be a door saying "centre sector" at the end,"

There we few cameras in this hall, and the view was limited. Kate squinted her eyes as she watched Sonic advance further down and cover his ears at the loud machinery. Soon he reached a door. His ivory guide studied the screen and saw text on the door. "I'm at the door. What now?" said Sonic quietly.

Kate let out an amused snort.  
"Go through it, genius,"

She smirked at Sonic's scowl and watched him push open the door. She switched the camera view to those in the next corridor.  
She heard Sonic groan through the communicator.  
"Man, how many corridors are in this place?"

Kate sighed.  
"Far too many," she said wearily "now, just keep going down, until-"

"Take off the headset and step away. Now,"

Kate stopped speaking almost immediately. Shaking, she removed the headset and placed it on the counter before standing up slowly and stepping away from the mouthpiece as she registered something cold pressed up against the back of her head.  
Sonic's worried voice could still be heard.

"Kate? Are you there?"

The person behind Kate spoke softly yet dangerously.  
"Don't reply. Turn around. Slowly,"

Sonic spoke again, sounding more desperate.  
"Hello? Tails? Anyone?"

Kate slowly turned around on the spot, her hands above her head. She was met with laser pistol aimed at her head, held by a furious yellow fox.  
"T-Tails..." she stammered, keeping close eye on the pistol "what are you doing?"

The young fox watched her intently, his arm still raised.  
"I know you work with Eggman, and I know this is a trap,"

Kate lowered her hands and smirked approvingly at Tails.  
"How long have you known?" she said calmly. The two tailed fox kit looked taken aback at her laid back demeanor. Nevertheless, he held his ground.  
"I had a hunch since the start," he said shortly. Kate chuckled.  
"And yet you let me continue?" she asked inquisitively.

Tails flushed bright red at his mistake.  
"I-I gave you the benefit of the doubt," he muttered "but now I know for certain!"

He moved the pistol closer, and Kate stepped back.  
"You wouldn't do that, would you, Tails?" she said hurriedly, going slightly cross eyed as she watched the pistol "you are many things, but you don't look like a killer to me,"

The arm holding the weapon trembled. However, Tails managed to steel himself as he moved the gun away from Kate's head, and shoot the monitors.  
Kate yelled out in surprise as she sheltered herself from the shower of sparks. She had barely recovered before she felt both of the fox's tails wrap around her leg and slam her to the ground. The pistol fired again, this time by accident, a slip of the trigger.

Surprised, Tails dropped the weapon, and Kate kicked it away before standing up and locking in hand to hand combat with Tails. Kate's left hand met with Tails' right, and vice versa. They pushed against each other until Kate twisted her arms to the left, throwing Tails over. The young fox had only just stood up when an energy sphere collided with his head, knocking him unconscious.

Kate slumped down against a wall and closed her eyes, panting. Her eyelids opened slightly to look at the knocked out fox. What had she done...

A new voice suddenly rang out through the silence, and Kate leapt up to find the source of the voice.

The mouthpiece was still working, even if it was full of static. Kate cringed as she heard Sonic. For a moment, she stared at the destroyed monitors, and her stomach dropped with dread. he would have to lead Sonic the rest of the way, something she really wanted to avoid doing. Tails must have done it as an attempt to protect Sonic. That clever fox.

Kate stumbled over to the mouthpiece.  
"S-sonic..." she stammered "are you t-there?"

*Flashback over*

Kate continued to stare numbly at the ceiling.  
"There you go," she said quietly "I assume you can remember what happened next,"

Sonic nodded, now sat with his head resting on his hand. He had absolutely no idea what to say. There was awkward silence for a while as Sonic tried to think of something to say.

"Well..." he said at last, clapping his hands together once "we can...we can forget about this, right? You can join us, now,"

Kate looked up, confused at his statement.  
"What do you mean?" she asked. Sonic gestured to outside the door.  
"Well, you're stayin', right?"

Kate let out a laugh which soon turned into a raspy cough. Sonic waited patiently for her to compose herself. "I-I'm not staying, hedgehog..." she choked. The blue hedgehog crossed one leg over the other, and shrugged.  
"Why not?"

She didn't answer, and Sonic realised what the problem was.  
"Kate...listen to me...I forgive you. Tails forgives you. We can get past this-"

Kate growled as she glared at him.  
"Yes! Yes! You forgive me! But what about the others?" she snapped "I risked your life, and ultimately the security of this world. Do you think everyone else will forgive me after what I've done?"

Sonic bit his lip and looked at his shoes, not replying. He couldn't deny that what she said was true. He thought of people like Knuckles, and sighed. Kate spoke again, her voice lowering.  
"Your silence is a confirmation,"

Sonic tapped his hands on his knees as there was another awkward pause.  
"You can't leave, Kate," he said firmly. Kate snorted.

"Oh yeah? Just watch me,"

As if proving him wrong, she made a move to sit up. Almost immediately, however, she hissed in pain and fell back against the pillows with a soft flump.  
"Ow...everthing hurts..." she grumbled, clenching her eyes shut. Sonic had to refrain himself from laughing.

"Yeah," he chuckled "I meant it literally, Kate. You physically can't leave,"

Kate flushed a little in embarassment before crossing her arms sulkily.  
Sonic stood, intending to leave.  
"You can stay here until you're fit to leave," he instructed "I won't stop you, then,"

He went over to the door and pulled it open. He was about to walk out, when Kate called him back.

"Shadow!"

Sonic poked his head round the door frame, confused.  
"What?"

Kate was propping herself up on her arms, looking at him happily.  
"Shadow! That was his name! Shadow the hedgehog! I said I would told you if I remembered,"

Sonic's mouth fell open in shock.  
"You're kidding?" he laughed "Shadow the hedgehog?"

Kate nodded.  
"Do you know him?"

Sonic scratched his ear and smirked.  
"Yeah...yeah I do..." he replied "but...he's away at the moment. Don't worry. As soon as he comes back, I'll tell him about you,"

*3 days later*

Kate had pretty much recovered fully, and was now saying goodbyes to Sonic and Tails near the entrance to New Mobotropolis. She had recovered remarkably fast, in Sonic's opinion, which had brought another question to mind.  
"Hey Kate,"

The ivory wolf directed her view away from Tails and to Sonic. She smiled.  
"Yeah?"

Sonic turned to Tails, who nodded as a go ahead. "You might as well tell us seeing as you're leaving," he said. Kate absent-mindedly used her psychokinesis to float a little off the ground.  
"Tell you what?"

Tails piped up, eager for a response.  
"What is that sixty percent?"

Kate fell back to the ground with a thump, taken by surprise by their question. She stood up, dusting herself off and grinning at their curious expressions.  
"Fair enough," she chuckled light heartedly "I guess I owe you that much..."

Kate thought for a moment.  
"About twenty years ago, Sirius, you know, the dog star, manifested himself in our form to learn more about us,"

Sonic and Tails were gripped, hanging on to her every word. Kate continued.  
"Things...didn't go as planned. He...er...married, and had two children when he wasn't supposed to. The first born was a girl, who they called Kate..."

Tails let out a short whisper.  
"No way..."

"Thing is," Kate added, shutting Tails up "Sirius was a Star God, who married a mortal. So, technically, that makes me a..."

She trailed off, messing with her ear in a distracted and awkward way. It took Sonic a little longer than Tails, but they both clocked on.

"You can't be..." Sonic began, gaping in awe.  
Tails ran a had through the fur on his head.  
"Impossible!"

Kate smiled, and began to walk away.  
"Don't tell anyone, guys," she called back. She gave a short wave before teleporting away "see ya,"

The hedgehog and fox were still in shock.  
Sonic was beside himself, both of his hands clutching his head.  
"D-dude! She's a...she's a..."

Tails was hopping up and down frantically.  
"She's a demigod!"

It was a while before the two friends were found by a very perplexed Sally, still laughing away hysterically in disbelief.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there ye go. This is just a test because I have no idea how to use AO3 :P
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
> 
> ~W.O.T~


End file.
